A well-known procedure is the dental restoration of a partially or wholly edentulous patient with artificial dentition. Typically, a dental implant is seated into the bone of a patient's jaw. The dental implant includes a socket, e.g., a bore, which is accessible through the overlying or surrounding gum tissue for receiving and supporting one or more attachments or components which, in turn, are useful to fabricate and support prosthodontic restorations. The dental implant generally includes a threaded bore to receive a retaining screw for holding mating components therein. Dental implant procedures may use a variety of implanting modalities, for example, blade, threaded implant, or smooth push-in implant.
The process of seating the dental implant typically requires an incision being made through the gingiva to expose the underlying bone. The dental implant acts as an artificial tooth root when placed in the jawbone for integration. During the first stage, the gum tissue overlying the implant is sutured and heals as the osseointegration process continues.
Once the osseointegration process is complete, the second stage is initiated. Here, the gum tissue is re-opened to expose the end of the dental implant. A healing component or healing abutment is fastened to the exposed end of the dental implant to allow the gum tissue to heal therearound. Preferably, the gum tissue heals such that the aperture that remains generally approximates the size and contour of the aperture that existed around the natural tooth that is being replaced. To accomplish this, the healing abutment attached to the exposed end of the dental implant has the same general contour as the gingival portion of the natural tooth being replaced.
The process of preparing the first stage for the dental implant involves creating an osteotomy in the bone of the patient. Typically the osteotomy is created by using a series of drills in order to provide the proper shaped osteotomy to accommodate the dental implant. Implants have different width and length dimensions for different bone volumes and anatomical features. Implants also may have different body shapes to assist in fit with the bone. Each implant having selected dimensions requires distinct drills specific to the implant dimensions to create the appropriate osteotomy. In current drill protocols to create osteotomies for implants, multiple drills are necessary to create the desired osteotomy. For example, in the case of an existing protocol for a straight walled 4 mm width and 10 mm length implant, five separate drills are required. Once the site of the osteotomy has been determined, a first starter drill is used to locate the osteotomy and the site is marked by penetrating the bone surface with the starter drill to create a starting hole so the subsequent drills will not walk. The marked spot is used to locate a second twist drill which is used to create a hole to the depth of the implant. A third drill is used to widen the hole in medium or dense bone to create a coronal aspect to accept the body of the next drill. A fourth twist drill is used to shape the hole for the body of the implant. A final drill is used to widen the top of the osteotomy to accommodate a cover screw for the top of the implant.
The present protocols for creating osteotomies for a dental implant are cumbersome to implement as they require a clinician to perform multiple drilling steps. This is also time consuming and requires multiple drills which also results in patient discomfort. Further, the more drilling steps that are utilized increases risking contamination of the bone area. As there are different types of implants with different width and length dimensions for the variety of anatomical areas, the number of drills required for different patients increases.
It would be desirable to provide a drill protocol to create an osteotomy tailored to a specific implant. There is also a need for drills which can perform multiple functions previously requiring multiple drills in a protocol to create an osteotomy. It would also be desirable to provide packaging of drills that create an osteotomy matching the dimensions of a specific implant along with the implant to be used.